For the umpteenth million times my print head is clogged solid with the white ink. This has been a problem since this thing has arrived. I believe the problem is the head itself as it has always taken 3-4 hours just to get the white ink anywhere near the dampers. It was this way the very first time I filled the lines. The CMYK inks always zip right up to the head but white has always taken hours to get there. The tech thinks that I may have a bad print head. Mesa is well aware of the problem I have been having but refuses to do anything about it unless I pay to have the problem fixed. They tell me it will run me $1200.00 to come to my place to fix it or I can pay to ship it to them. I say BS. I asked if I could just remove the head and ship it to them. They said no, I have to send the entire machine at my expense. I'm not very happy with the lack of customer service that comes from Mesa. I did call Epson and was able to speak with a tech (not someone in India). Epson tells me that running any ink that has a metal property in it is absolutely the wrong thing to do with their print head and that it will do nothing but ruin it. Being that the head is piezo electric, he said that the titanium dioxide will continue to cause problems. I'm sure that Mesa must know this but fail to inform their customers. When I can come up with some money for a new head I'll just replace it myself. Mesa has cost me a fortune by having me dump out new white ink and replacing it with new white ink. They have cost me a fortune in dampers as well as shirts that did not print the white. I have also lost customers and have given back a lot of money due to the white ink problem. Mesa informed me that by replacing the head myself may void my warranty. I ask "what warranty"? So far all they have done is rip money from my pocket and never doing anything but ask for more money. Mesa wants more than $300.00 for the print head but everyone else sell it for around $200.00. Is there anything special with the head that Mesa sells? DTGink sells their head for $215.00 and I'd rather deal with anyone but Mesa. Mesa has told me that they are not aware of anyone else ever having problems with white ink and that the problem must be me. I have done every bit of maintenance that is required on a daily basis. When I am able to get the white to run it is fast to clog back up. I highly doubt that I am doing anything wrong and cannot see how I am the one causing the clog. I am a technical person, having that I worked most of my career in the Ux/EMF railroad inspection industry holding a level 2 card. As for running this machine, it should be a cakewalk and it is, minus the white ink clogging issue.
I have had this machine since June and it has been down 90% of the time. I need for it to be running as I have payments to make on it.
To hell with their useless warranty, I'm going elsewhere for a print head, if possible. My question is the same as the heading. How do I remove the print head?
If its the original Kiosk I can send you both the DTG and T-Jet manuals if you like to remove the print head.
Whats strange is that you mention the very FIRST time you tried to draw white ink, that it took a few hours. Thats is certainly very wrong and the first time should take only a few seconds longer then the CMYK colors. You may have a bad batch of white ink?
Its disappointing to read about your issues with MESA. Did they really say that nobody else had problems with White ink? I think white ink is the cause of the majority of DTG printing problems!! I'd be quite angry if I heard a tech say that to me. Best of luck with resolving this issue!
Epson tells me that running any ink that has a metal property in it is absolutely the wrong thing to do with their print head and that it will do nothing but ruin it. Being that the head is piezo electric, he said that the titanium dioxide will continue to cause problems. I'm sure that Mesa must know this but fail to inform their customers.
Mark - This issue is plastered all over the net. It is very well known, and not a secret or mystery. Most of the manufacturers will tell you that head replacement is a regular part of doing business when running white ink. (Obviously not Mesa, at least in your case) The issue is you never know how long they will last. I have had them last as much as 13 months, or as little as 2. I actually keep back ups and switch them out when needed. I then recondition the removed head. If it can be salvaged, it goes back into rotation.
The root of your problem seems to stem from day one. there is absolutely no way that he white ink should ever take 3-4 minutes, much less hours to reach the head! Mesa should have been alerted to this immediately, and should have taken action to fix/replace your new machine! It could have been a number of things...bad head, poor seal on capping station, poor vacuum motor, holes or some type of vacuum leak in a connecting line from the pump to the capping station, all come to mind.
I am very surprised that Mesa wants $1200 to repair a machine that is less than 90 days old. I can understand the shipping costs and the $300 for the head (because no manufacturer warranties a head), but anything over this sounds unusual. What are the comments from mesa as to why it is $1200?
Did you buy a new, refurbed or used machine? I ask because if new, and the cmyk zipped to the head, then something is rotten in Denmark. If the head was not new, it could have had a clogged head from day one, thus causing your issues. Have you EVER gotten a good nozzle check, and a thick layer of white on a shirt?
It's a new Kiosk.
I was on the phone the first day with a tech about not being able to get the white to the dampers. He had me put distilled water into the white ink but, the problem persisted. At one point I let off of the fill button before openning the CMYK valves and it did back flush waste up into the dampers. At that point all of the dampers clogged. The tech thought that maybe the dampers on the white could be bad. They did send me dampers. Yet, the problem remained. I do leave the fill cap off and have even openned the lid to allow more air. Still, slow to draw the ink. He even had me dump the new ink that came with it and replace it with the ink I purchased. I was not very happy about doing that. But, being that the CMYK inks zip right to the head the only thing it can be is the head. What are the chance that the 3 whites would be bad? I would think there would be next to no chance that all 3 would be bad. I am printing shirts that do not require the white but losing out on designs that must have the white.
As for good nozzle checks, I have gotten great patterns. When the problem arose again, one week ago after a week of getting the head cleaned out, I did a check and it was good. I ran one shirt and on the second shirt it failed to print the grey in the design. I ran another nozzle check and found that the grey channel was not putting out. The other two were barely putting out. I tried to flush them after draining the lines and cleaning the dampers (the dampers were also clogging and eventually clogged solid) but could not get it to draw much water. The longer I tried to clear it the worst it seemed to get until it drew nothing. Even after getting new dampers it still would not draw the water. The water was heated along with cleaning fluid. I'm not sure what to think.
The $1200.00 cost was for a tech to come here. I could send it to them but, at my expence. They did say that if it is a bad head that they would cover the head and return shipping. The cost to ship from here is far more than the cost of a head. At this point, I'd much rather change out the head myself and save a small fortune.
I did just finish running shirts today that did not require the white and will try soaking the head as I read in another thread as well as a few other tips that I read there.
I would suggest, without any hesitation, returning it to Mesa to be fixed. Your problem could be something other then the print head. At this point, unless you are absolutely sure that the head is the only problem, which you're not, I would let them go through the machine, fix what's wrong, and get it back to you. This way you have a fully functioning printer and are not going back and forth on parts trying to make it work. If they are willing to cover the cost of the print head and return shipping consider yourself "lucky" and pay the shipping one way. Just make sure they assure you they'll go through it thoroughly and guarantee it'll come back to you fully functional.
How do you remove the print head on a kiosk? 
